Pillaged: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Romance (Raider Warlords of the Vandar Book 3)

by Tana Stone

  “I know I suggested she was sent by the empire as a spy.” Viken jutted his chin up. “I no longer believe that.”

  “What changed your thinking?” Rolan asked, waving for the bartender to refill our drinks and serve one to Viken. “Did the female make that strong of an impression on you just now?”

  My battle chief cut his eyes to my majak, reminding me that the two Vandar were half-brothers and naturally competitive, although different in almost every way. “I came from the command deck. We intercepted a transmission the Zagrath admiral is sending out on all frequencies.”

  “A transmission?” I asked.

  He pressed his lips together briefly. “A threat, Raas.”

  “The Zagrath admiral is issuing a threat?” My heart beat faster. “About the female?”

  “Affirmative.” Viken picked up the glass of Karvolian gin in front of him. “He is issuing a claim on the human as his property, and promises death to any Vandar who touches her. He demands she be returned to him unharmed, and promises war if she is not.”

  Rolan’s eyebrows lifted. “Then they know we have her.”

  “Who else could have taken her?” I said. “Only Vandar and Zagrath were near the battle at Carlogia Prime. It’s the logical conclusion.”

  “There is more, Raas.” Viken’s frown deepened. “The transmission says that if we keep the female, we will pay in the lives of those we’ve hidden.”

  My skin went cold as Rolan froze next to me.

  Viken pounded a fist on the bar. “How could they know, Raas?”

  “That is the information the female shared with me.” I gazed into the murky green contents of my drink. “The admiral knows of the existence of our colonies, but does not know where.”

  Viken’s mouth dropped. “How?”

  “We do not know.” Rolan cast his eyes around the room. “We all guard the secret with our lives. Every warrior in this horde has family in the colonies. It could not have come from any Vandar.”

  Viken slammed back a gulp of gin. “We should contact the other hordes. Your brothers might know how this happened.”

  I shook my head hard. “Not yet. I don’t want to panic the hordes.” And I did not want to explain to my brothers that I was getting intelligence from a human female, despite the fact that my eldest brother had taken a human mate. “We will wait until we know more.”

  Viken did not look pleased with my response, but he did not challenge it. He knew I would always do what was best for the horde, and for the Vandar.

  “What will you do Raas?” Rolan asked.

  “We do not do the empire’s bidding.” I took a gulp of gin, the searing heat fueling the fire that burned in my belly. “They cannot scare us into giving away what we have taken. Raiders do not give. We take. We are Vandar.”

  Viken emitted a rumble. “We are Vandar.”

  “The admiral does not know how to find our colonies, and he does not know how to find us,” I continued. “Like the old man himself, his bark has no teeth. We will not return the human. It is done.”

  I tossed back the rest of my gin, and it scorched a trail down my throat.

  “Where are you going Raas?” Rolan asked as I turned to leave.

  I thought of my destination, and my cock swelled. “To compel the female to tell me everything she knows.”

  Chapter 10

  I don’t know when I fell asleep, but I woke with the Raas staring at me. He sat on an ottoman near the bed, resting his elbows on his knees. He no longer wore the straps crossing his chest, and his stomach muscles rippled as he bent forward, his long dark hair falling over his shoulders.

  The lights in the room were dimmer than they had been, the crackling blue flames inset in the wall giving off most of the light. I sat up. “Is it morning? How long have I been asleep?”

  He tilted his head. “There is no morning on a spaceship. Only first watch. But no, you did not sleep long.”

  That explained why I felt so groggy. I hadn’t slept well since I’d left my home planet, and the stress of the escape and being taken onto a Vandar warbird was catching up to me.

  I glanced down. I was still fully dressed. I remembered thinking that I would just lie on the bed for a minute as I waited for the Raas to return, but the bed had been so soft and the sheets so silky that I’d closed my eyes and let my mind wander.

  I focused on the warlord watching me, the shadows cast on his face making him look even more intimidating than usual. I thought back to what I’d told him about the admiral, and how he’d left in a rush. “Is everything okay? Am…am I in trouble?”

  Toraan entwined his fingers. “Why would you be in trouble?”

  At home I could get reprimanded for laughing too loudly or speaking out of turn or scraping my spoon across the bottom of my soup bowl. I suspected the Vandar didn’t consider any of these things punishable offenses. I shrugged. “I don’t know, but you look pretty serious.”

  He blew out a breath and stood quickly. “The admiral knows we have you.”

  My stomach clenched. “What? How? I thought your horde was invisible?”

  “It is. He cannot know where you are, or which horde has taken possession of you, but he has surmised that you are with the Vandar.”

  I swung my legs over the side of the bed, the cold floor a shock to my bare feet. “How do you know this?”

  The Raas stood with his legs wide and his hands behind his back, his tail almost motionless as it curved up behind him. “Kurmog has sent out a transmission threatening war against any Vandar who dares keep you.”

  Bile churned in my stomach, and I tasted it in the back of my throat. I couldn’t go back to him. The thought of the old man’s cold, bony hands on me, and his papery lips on mine, made me want to scream. I didn’t care what deal my parents had made, or what I’d agreed to when I’d joined his ship. I refused to be some imperial breeder for a male with dead eyes and a hard heart.

  I wrapped my arms around my stomach and bent over, letting out a small moan. “Please don’t send me back to him. Let me go in the imperial transport, and I won’t tell a soul that I was ever on your ship.”

  He took a step closer to me. “I have no intention of returning you to the empire.”

  I tipped my head back to peer up at him. “You don’t?”

  Another cock of his head. “You think a Raas of the Vandar is afraid of imperial threats?”

  I sucked in a cool breath, my stomach relaxing. “You’d risk war with the empire for someone you don’t even know?”

  “We are Vandar.” His lips quirked up on one side. “We welcome battle with the Zagrath. We do not run from it. And I would never do your admiral’s bidding.”

  “He’s not my admiral,” I grumbled. “I don’t ever want to see him for as long as I live.”

  “Then you are certain you do not wish to marry him? You will not change your mind?”

  I laughed and gave him a look that told him I thought he was insane to even ask me. “I had nothing to do with setting up the sham marriage. My parents claimed they were making a great match for me, but it was really for them.” My eyes burned with tears. “What kind of parents make their only daughter marry a man three times her age?”

  “If you are sure you do not want to return to him or the empire, you do not have to marry him. I will hide you. But you can also never return to your home world, or leave the Vandar. Do you understand?”

  I hesitated for only a moment. I loved Horl, but not as much as I despised the thought of being married to the admiral. Even though it was hard to imagine spending my life with a Vandar horde, it beat the alternative. “I understand.”

  The Raas nodded solemnly and turned, taking long steps to stand at the gleaming black wall that contained the fireplace. He leaned one hand on the wall above the dancing flames and gazed at them. His shoulders were bunched with tension, and the tip of his tail flicked rapidly.

  “Does this mean that the empire will be hunting for me?” I asked.

  He nodded
without turning.

  “And they might take their anger out on your people?”

  He gave a rough shake of his head. “They would have to find us first, and the empire does not yet know how to find a hidden horde.”

  “What about the colonies that the admiral mentioned?” I asked. “If that’s where the rest of the Vandar live, will keeping me put them in danger?”

  The hand on the wall curled into a fist. “They will never find them.”

  I didn’t want to argue with him, but I’d seen the steely determination on the admiral’s face. He would not give up—especially now. I stood and walked to the fire. “I know the Vandar love battle, but why would you do this for me? You don’t get anything but a target on your back in return.”

  He twisted his head to meet my eyes. The light of the flames cavorted across his face, making his handsome features appear fierce. “That does not have to be true.”

  My pulse skittered as his gaze held mine. “I don’t under—”

  “Do you wish to strike a blow against the admiral himself? Do you want to ensure he will never want to reclaim you as his bride?”

  I nodded without hesitation. I despised the man and the way he’d looked at me, as if I was his property.

  His eyes darkened as he spoke, his voice a velvet purr. “If you become a Raisa of the Vandar, you will render yourself untouchable.”

  A breath caught in my throat. “A Raisa? What does that mean.”

  The Raas closed the small distance between us, his body almost flush with mine. “The mate of a Raas. A Raisa takes the mating marks of her Raas.”

  My gaze went to the curls that inked his chest. “I would get tattoos?”

  He took my hand in his and touched it to one of the dark swirls. “These are not tattoos. Vandar are born with these marks, and when we take our mate, they appear on her skin, as well.”

  I swallowed hard, his skin hot beneath my fingers. “You want me to…?”

  “If you wear my marks, no Zagrath would touch you. You would be safe.”

  As I stared into his molten gaze, safe wasn’t the word that came to mind. “And it would prove to the admiral that I don’t belong to him?”

  He inclined his head to me. “It would.”

  I liked the sound of that, but was I ready to run from one male’s arms right into another? I’d finally gotten out from under my parents’ control. Did I really want to give up my power so quickly?

  I swallowed hard. “Are you serious? You barely know me.”

  He cocked one eyebrow. “What else should I know about you?”

  I opened my mouth to answer then clamped it shut. This clearly wasn’t some sort of love match for him. I’d never been a helpless romantic, but I’d always imagined a husband would be a little more excited than this. “Nothing, I guess. You’re sure you want to do this just to keep me safe from the empire? You aren’t supposed to do this with a Vandar female, instead?”

  “A Vandar mate has never been in the cards for me.” He looked into the fire briefly, then back at me, his face set in determination. “Striking a blow against the Zagrath is reason enough.”

  A part of me knew it was foolish to go from one captor to another, but another part didn’t care, as long as I never had to be married to the admiral. “I…I don’t know.”

  His profile was even more stark in the dancing flames of the fire as he scowled at me. “You do not know if you wish to be honored as the mate of a Vandar Raas?” The Raas’ tail curled around the back of my legs and a shiver of unexpected desire slid down my spine. “I think you do know.”

  Chapter 11

  Toraan

  “It’s only to protect her.” I dodged the holographic axe blade as it sliced the air, and my shoulder hit the curved metal wall.

  Viken dashed in front of me and lifted his battle axe high to block the next attack. “I do not understand, Raas.”

  I pushed myself off the wall of the holographic battle ring and sucked in a hot breath. Sweat trickled down my chest, and I swiped a hand across my slick brow, never taking my eyes off the holographic beast we were battling. Although we were in a long, cylindrical chamber used for battle practice, the creature growling at us was one hundred percent energy, and covered with thick, matted fur best suited for a glacier planet.

  “The only way to ensure that the admiral will not claim the female is for her to have Vandar mating marks,” I said, my tail swishing behind me as I pivoted.

  Viken let out a choked laugh. “You are right about that. No Zagrath would take a mate who has been marked by a Vandar.” He spun around to watch for incoming strikes, crouched in a battle stance and shifting his weight from one foot to another as the tip of his tail quivered in anticipation. “But she is a human, Raas.”

  “Do you think I do not know that?” Before, I would have thought it impossible that a Vandar could share mating marks with a human, but word had spread through the hordes that my eldest brother, Kratos, had formed mating marks with the human female he’d taken as his captive. There were whispers that she even dressed like a Vandar warrior. My mind wandered to the image of Rachael dressed in a battle kilt with her brown skin exposed, and my cock twitched.

  I growled and ignored the heat coiling in my belly. I needed to think of something other than the human waiting for me in my quarters. I lunged at the holo-beast, my blade catching in his fur but not doing any damage.

  Kaalek. The image of my other older brother dampened my desire instantly. He had also taken a female onboard his ship, although I had not heard if they were mates or shared marks yet. It had not happened often, but there was now evidence that it was possible for Vandar and human to share markings. It would not be a stretch to think it could happen for me.

  Before I could say all this to my battle chief, he rolled across the mat and leapt to his feet across from me. “And how can you be sure that she will take your marks, if this is just part of a strategy?”

  I did not want to admit that my body heated with longing when I looked at her, or that the thought of the human having my marks etched on her skin made my long-dormant heart stir. “I cannot know for sure, but it is worth the risk.”

  Viken grunted in response as we both brought our blades crashing down on the towering, holographic beast. My axe vibrated from the contact, and for a moment, I regretted setting the program to its most challenging setting. Then again, it had been a while since I’d fought off Turmerian ice trolls—real or holographic—and my body welcomed the release.

  We both jumped back and watched the shimmering opponent swing his spiked mace. Even though our advanced holographic technology—the same tech that we used in our invisibility shielding—meant that the image was comprised of energy, the blows still hurt, and the wounds were still real.

  “This is not just to strike the imperial admiral where it will hurt him most?” Viken asked, over the roar of the ice troll as it thundered toward us.

  I dipped low and slashed at the creature’s legs, taking off one enormous, fur-covered foot. “Can it not be both?”

  Viken laughed as he dashed forward, swinging himself up onto the troll’s back. “As long as you are sure, Raas.” He slashed at the creature’s wide throat, causing dark blood to stain the matted white fur before the image flickered and then vanished. Falling from high in the air, my battle chief landed in a crouch. Since the opponent had been killed, the program had ended.

  I was not sorry. It was our third holo-battle, and we’d already defeated a giant Crelibri slug and a Protorian boar. I strode forward and clapped him on the shoulder. “Well done.”

  He grinned, heaving in a breath. “Your blow to his legs made my death blow possible.”

  “Battles are always won together,” I said, echoing something my uncle had repeated often. It was a core tenet of the horde. We fought and won together. There were no individual victories for the Vandar.

  “Another?” He tossed the handle of his axe from hand to hand.

  I shook my head. “It is en
ough for now.”

  “No sand scorpion today?”

  I laughed. He knew how I despised battling the creature with snapping pincers. “You will have to face that on your own.”

  Viken looked at me as we both leaned on our battle axes and caught our breath. I cocked my head at him. “I know that look. You are concerned about something.”

  “I had thought you’d abandoned any goal of taking a mate.”

  My gut clenched, even as I tried to force the memories from my mind. “That was long ago.”

  “True, but you’d thought she was your one true mate.” Viken had served with me long enough to know everything about me, which could be a curse.

  Images of the Vandar female I’d been sure would take my mating marks flooded my brain, even as I tried to shake them off. Like all Vandar, Lila had dark hair, and she’d worn hers pulled on top of her head in a sleek bun that had made her long-lashed eyes even more striking. “We were young. I was foolish.”

  “You were deceived, Raas.” His voice was steady, but held bitterness I rarely heard from him.

  “It is done.” I huffed out a breath. “We did not have more than a childhood promise. She never wore my marks.”

  Viken muttered darkly under his breath. He knew that I had shared a bond with the female, and many nights. His loyalty to me—and therefore his disdain for the female who had rejected me—was absolute. “And this is not about taking revenge against her.”

  Irritation flared in my chest. “I would not use one female to exact penance on another.”

  Viken shrugged. “I would not blame you for wanting Lila to see you mated with another, Raas. And a human mate as beautiful as the one in your quarters would show her that she had not broken you.”

  I leveled my gaze at my battle chief. “You believe me broken?”

  “No, Raas,” he said quickly.

  I was not sure that I believed him, or that he was entirely wrong. I had skillfully avoided any contact with Vandar females—not difficult on a horde ship—or any thought of mates. When other raiders had returned to the Vandar colonies to take mates, I’d wished them well but never felt even a twinge of jealousy. That part of myself had been closed off forever. Until now.